Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has admitted that his charges have been lucky to see some of the referees’ decisions go in their favour.
Sundowns claimed a tightly contested 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Cape Town Spurs in the DStv Premiership on Tuesday night.
The Brazilians scored through a spot kick late in the first half against Spurs. The penalty call sparked controversy with pundits and fans questioning the call.
In the penalty decision, Spurs’ midfielder Asanele Velebayi was judged to have pulled Peter Shalulile in the box.
Meanwhile, Young Africans SC coach Miguel Gamondi claimed his side was robbed by the referees against Sundowns in the CAF Champions League quarter-finals.
Yanga attacker Stephane Aziz Ki unleashed a powerful shot that appeared to have beaten Downs keeper Ronwen Williams and crossed the line. However, the VAR call ruled that the ball didn’t cross the line and it was not a goal.
Interestingly, Sundowns was involved in another controversy involving the referees against Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 semi-finals. Masandawana committed two fouls in the box against Chiefs but the middleman Luxolo Badi did not give both penalties. Downs subsequently eliminated Amakhosi from the MTN8.
RULANI MOKWENA IS HAPPY TO BE ON THE RECEIVING END OF REFEREES’ DECISIONS
Mokwena told journalists he felt Sundowns were a bit unlucky with referees in last year’s Champions Leaugue.
“There’s a lot that has been said about Sundowns, I’ve done it before, I’ve gone on a social media sabbatical. So I don’t know what’s being said about who and how,” Mokwena said.
“I just watch the games. I can tell you that my opinion is that the decisions [by the referees] were right. I’m not an official ref but of course, these are the things that happen in football. We lost in the MTN8 final [against Orlando Pirates] over decisions that I thought were unfair to us.
“But that’s football, at the end of the day you win some and you lose some. I think the nature of sport and football is that you can’t always be on the receiving end of these decisions.
“One of your colleagues asked me at the start of the season what will it take to win the Champions League. I said you need a lot of luck.
MOKWENA ADMITS THAT SUNDOWNS WAS LUCKY AGAINST YANGA
“And when I see the Yanga incident, I say we’ve a lot of luck as opposed to last year’s semis where we lost. And when we conceded I thought we were very unlucky.
“God loves us all and when you think he neglects you, he has a way of showing his hand and saying I’m still God and I’ve got favour upon my people.
“It’s how I feel at the moment. I feel that God’s grace is upon us and long may it continue. Like I said, in the Champions League last season there was a push on Mothobi Mvala for the equaliser to make it 2-2 and this season I thought we had very fortunate moments.”
RELATED STORY: Molefi Ntseki: ‘Sundowns have been very lucky in the last six years’
